VeggieTales
VeggieTales is an American series of children's computer animated films featuring anthropomorphic vegetables in stories conveying moral themes based on Christianity. The episodes frequently retell Bible stories anachronistically reframed and include humorous references to pop culture. The series was developed by Big Idea Entertainment and is owned by DreamWorks Animation through its subsidiary, DreamWorks Classics."DreamWorks Buys VeggieTales's Owner | Gleanings". ChristianityToday.com. The characters in VeggieTales were originally created by Phil Vischer. He and Mike Nawrocki began producing the films (Nawrocki later took over the entire project when the rights were bought by Classic Media), and they did many of the voices. Originally released in direct-to-video format, the series debuted on December 21, 1993. From September 9, 2006 to September 7, 2009, VeggieTales appeared on NBC as part of the Qubo Saturday morning children's programming block. On November 3, 2012 the show began running on the Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN)"Broadcast Schedule". Tbn.org. January 1, 1970. as well as its children's network Smile of a Child,"Smile of A Child TV". Smileofachildtv.org. where it currently continues to air episodes (in a repackaged and edited format). In 2009, Netflix made many VeggieTales videos (in their uncut, original formats) and feature films available via their video streaming service. On March 14, 2014, Netflix announced a new VeggieTales television show from DreamWorks Animation Television entitled VeggieTales in the House. Brian, Matt (March 13, 2014). "Netflix's three new originals include 'Shrek' and 'Madagascar' spin-offs". Engadget.com. The first season of five shows was released on November 26, 2014. Big Idea has also published VeggieTales books and music CDs and branded items such as toys, clothing, and garden seeds for vegetables and flowers. History VeggieTales was created by Phil Vischer and Mike Nawrocki through their company Big Idea Productions. Their aim was to produce children's videos which conveyed Christian moral themes and taught Biblical values and lessons. The animated feature involved stories told by a group of recurring vegetable characters who lived on a kitchen countertop. The program was offered in the direct-to-video market, with the first 30-minute program, Where's God When I'm S-Scared?, released in December 1993.Phil Vischer Me, Myself, and Bob (January 2007)"VeggieTales award-winning musical composer Kurt Heinecke to visit Wallace State on April 21 as part of Arts in April festivities". news.wallacestate.edu. Wallace State News. In all, Big Idea has released 45 VeggieTales episodes including three Silly Song collections, 5 holiday specials, 4 Larry-Boy episodes and a drawing tutorial. In addition to these episodes, there are 13 compilations that combine previously released material, and two feature-length movies, Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie and The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything: A VeggieTales Movie. Beginning in 2006, the VeggieTales videos were adapted as a regular television program through the Qubo multi-platform network and NBC network. On September 30, 2008, Big Idea said that Mike Nawrocki would create an "original new VeggieTales TV series," though no further news has been revealed.[http://www.ceganmo.com/2008/10/press-release-big-idea-inc-appoints.html Big Idea Inc, Appoints VeggieTales Co-Creator Mike Nawrocki to Head of Creative and Development], Press release, Big Idea Inc., September 30, 2008 The idea for VeggieTales came in the early 1990s when Phil Vischer was testing out animation software as a medium for children's videos. Due to the limitations of the software available to him at the time, he chose to avoid the technical production hurdle of designing characters with arms, legs, or hair. His first animation model was an anthropomorphic candy bar. When informed by his wife that parents would probably prefer someone who promoted healthier eating habits, he started using fruits and vegetables to design the characters. Format The episodes generally follow a standard format where a moral issue is posited in the opening countertop sequence, either through a viewer question or an issue brought up by Bob or Larry, followed by one or more "films" that address the issue, with a Silly Song in the middle. The Silly Songs are generally introduced with a title card and a voiceover saying, "And now it's time for Silly Songs with Larry, the part of the show where Larry comes out and sings a silly song." Some Silly Songs have alternate titles, such as "Love Songs with Mr. Lunt," where another character sings the song instead. The Silly Song, if one appears, is usually in the middle of the program, often at a cliffhanger moment or in between two stories (although the LarryBoy episodes, in particular, often lack this segment). Each tale ends with the program's signature sign-off: "Remember kids, God made you special and He loves you very much." VeggieTales on TV The NBC VeggieTales television show altered the general format by opening in the living room of Bob the Tomato's house. Bob, Larry the Cucumber, and other Veggie characters then sing the show's theme song as they hop to Bob's front door. The theme song ends with a character making a random comment, such as Pa Grape commenting on Archibald's new sweater. Bob and Larry then wait for the mailman, Jimmy Gourd, to deliver a letter. When Jimmy comes, he happily sings his Mail Song, which Bob and Larry both find tedious. Similar to the opening counter-top sequence of the VeggieTales videos, Bob and Larry read the letter and the cast tries to decide how to solve the viewer's problem through one of three regular segments: Archibald reads a story from his Big Book of Oddities, Pa Grape shows an old film, or Mr. Lunt appears with his stick puppet, Paco the Storytelling Mule, and tells a story. The result always proves disastrous, as the story or film makes no sense; Bob and Larry then intervene with a story from a VeggieTales video. The show ends with Bob and Larry wrapping things up by reiterating the story's lesson and thanking the kids for coming to his house. NBC episodes end with characters bidding the audience a simple "Good-bye". ''VeggieTales in the House'' A new series, VeggieTales in the House, premiered on Netflix in Thanksgiving 2014."Official Home of VeggieTales". VeggieTales.com. June 20, 2014. The series lead is Doug TenNapel and features a theme song by independent studio musician and frequent TenNapel collaborator Terry Scott Taylor. Mike Nawrocki and Phil Vischer continue to voice their characters, but the rest of the original video cast has been replaced by veteran voice actors Tress MacNeille and Rob Paulsen. The series is an expansion of the kitchen counter-top segments of the original videos to include a full city which the characters live in. Bob and Larry live as roommates in an apartment west of the kitchen counter. Several stories revolve around a general store built into the bottom-right corner of a kitchen counter which is run by Pa Grape. The cast from the original videos remains the same aside from the absence of Mr. Nezzer, who has been replaced by a similar looking character named Ichabeezer. Logos VeggieTaleslogo.png|First logo for VeggieTales (1993-1997) VeggieTaleslogo2.jpg|Second logo for VeggieTales (1998-2008) VeggieTaleslogo3.png|Third logo for VeggieTales (2009-2014) Characters Main article: List of VeggieTales characters VeggieTales has a continuous back story that all of the cartoons are actually teleplays, performed by various vegetables and fruit that live together on the same kitchen countertop. Some of these characters have "real names," and take on various roles in the teleplays, although in the earlier adventures they appeared as themselves, showing some of their real-life situations. Most of these "regulars" were established in the very earliest videos, while some have been added more recently. Episodes Main article: List of VeggieTales videos Re-issues and re-releases Big Idea has released a few "special edition" DVDs which consist of remastered videos and additional features not on the original DVD. #''Lyle the Kindly Viking'' Special Edition (also includes 3–2–1 Penguins! Trouble on Planet Wait-Your-Turn)"VeggieTales: Lyle the Kindly Viking / 3–2–1 Penguins Double Feature [DVD: Movies & TV"]. Amazon.com. #''Esther... The Girl Who Became Queen'' Special Edition (also includes 3–2–1 Penguins! The Doom Funnel Rescue) #''Larry-Boy and the Rumor Weed'' Special Edition (also includes 3–2–1 Penguins! The Amazing Carnival of Complaining) #''King George and the Ducky'' Special Edition (also includes 3–2–1 Penguins! Runaway Pride at Lightstation Kilowatt)"VeggieTales: King George & The Ducky + Bonus 3–2–1 Penguins Episode: Movies & TV". Amazon.com. #''Where's God When I'm S-Scared?'' 15th Anniversary Collector's Edition (also includes 3–2–1 Penguins! Trouble on Planet Wait-Your-Turn)"Where's God When I'm S-Scared [15th Anniversary – DVD: Movies & TV"]. Amazon.com. Compilation videos Main article: List of VeggieTales compilation videos Originally, Big Idea, Classic Media, and DreamWorks Animation have all bundled the various VeggieTales episodes into video collections ranging in size from double features all the way up to a boxed collection of the first 30 VeggieTales videos. In addition, the three companies have also released compilation videos including only collections of the Silly Songs from the various videos. These song collections have included the songs in "Sing Along" format as well as countdowns of the most popular Silly Songs as voted on by fans. References Category:Television series Category:1993 television series debuts Category:1990s television series Category:2000s television series Category:2010s television series Category:Computer-animated television series Category:VeggieTales Category:Films, TV Shows And Wildlife Wiki